Techniques for presenting sound effects on a portable media player

ABSTRACT

Improved techniques for presenting sound effects at a portable media device are disclosed. The sound effects can be output as audio sounds to an internal speaker, an external speaker, or both. In addition, the audio sounds for the sound effects can be output together with other audio sounds pertaining to media assets (e.g., audio tracks being played). In one embodiment, the sound effects can serve to provide auditory feedback to a user of the portable media device. A user interface can facilitate a user&#39;s selection of sound effect usages, types or characteristics.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser.No. 13/660,839 filed Oct. 25, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 11/144,541 filed on Jun. 3, 2005, now issued asU.S. Pat. No. 8,300,841.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to audio sound effects and, moreparticularly, to providing audio sound effects on a portable mediadevice.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Conventionally, portable media players have user input devices (buttons,dials, etc.) and a display screen for user output. Sometimes the displayscreen updates as user inputs are provided via the user input devices,thereby providing visual feedback to users regarding their user input.However, the display screen does not always provide visual feedback andthe user is not always able to view the display screen to receive thevisual feedback. Still further, some portable media players do notinclude a display screen. Portable media players can also provideauditory feedback as user inputs are provided via the user inputdevices. For example, to provide auditory feedback for a rotation userinput, the iPod® media player, which is available from Apple Computer,Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., outputs a “click” sound using a piezoelectricdevice provided within the media player.

Unfortunately, however, users often interact with media players whilewearing earphones or headphones. In such case, the users will likely notbe able to hear any auditory feedback, such as “click” sounds from apiezoelectric device. Moreover, the user might also be listening toaudio sounds via the earphones or headphones when the user interactionoccurs. Consequently, any users interaction with the media player whilewearing, earphone or headphones will be without the advantage ofauditory feedback. The lack of auditory feedback degrades the userexperience and renders the media player less user friendly.

Thus, there is a need for improved techniques to facilitate auditoryfeedback on portable media players.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention pertains to techniques for presenting sound effects at aportable media device. The sound effects can be output as audio soundsto an internal speaker, an external speaker, or both. In addition, theaudio sounds for the sound effects can be output together with otheraudio sounds pertaining to media assets (e.g., audio tracks beingplayed). In one embodiment, the sound effects can serve to provideauditory feedback to a user of the portable media device. A userinterface can facilitate a user's selection of sound effect usages,types or characteristics.

The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as amethod, system, device, apparatus (including graphical user interface),or computer readable medium. Several embodiments of the invention arediscussed below.

As a method for providing auditory feedback to a user of portable mediadevice, one embodiment of the method includes at least the acts of:outputting first audio data pertaining to a digital media asset to anaudio output device associated with the portable media device; detectingan event at the portable media device; and outputting second audio dataafter the event has been detected, the second audio data pertaining to asound effect associated with the event that has been detected, thesecond audio data being output to the audio output device.

As a method for outputting a sound effect from an external speakerassociated with a portable media device, one embodiment of the methodincludes at least the acts of: determining whether a sound effect is tobe output to the external speaker; identifying sound effect data for thesound effect to be output; retrieving the identified sound effect data;mixing the identified sound effect data with audio data being output, ifany, to produce mixed audio data; and outputting the mixed audio data tothe external speaker.

As a method for providing auditory feedback to a user of portable mediadevice, one embodiment of the method includes at least the acts of:detecting an event at the portable media device; determining whetherdevice feedback is enabled; producing an auditory feedback at theportable media device in response to the event when it is determinedthat the device feedback is enabled; determining whether earphonefeedback is enabled; and producing an auditory feedback at one or moreearphones coupled to the portable media device in response to the eventwhen it is determined that the earphone feedback is enabled.

As a portable media device, one embodiment of the invention includes atleast; an audio output device; a first memory device for storing aplurality of sound effects; computer program code for determining whento output at least one of the sound effects; and a processor fordetermining when to output at least one of the sound effects and forprocessing the at least one of the sound effects to produce output soundeffect data for the audio output device.

As a graphical user interface for a media device adapted to provideauditory feedback, one embodiment of the invention includes at least; alist of auditory feedback options; and a visual indicator that indicatesa selected on of the auditory feedback options. The media devicethereafter provides auditory feedback in accordance with the selectedone of the auditory feedback options.

As a computer readable medium including at least computer program codefor outputting, a sound effect from an external speaker associated witha portable media device, one embodiment of the invention includes atleast: computer program code for determining whether a sound effect isto be output to the external speaker; computer program code foridentifying sound effect data for the sound effect to be output;computer program code for retrieving the identified sound effect data;computer program code for mixing the identified sound effect data withaudio data being output, if any, to produce mixed audio data; andcomputer program code for outputting the mixed audio data to theexternal speaker.

Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, theprinciples of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein likereference numerals designate like structural elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an audio system according to one embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an audio output process according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an audio processing system according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an audio mixing process according to oneembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is an audio processing system according to one embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a multi-channel audio mixing systemaccording to one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a media player according to one embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 8 illustrates a media player having a particular user input deviceaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a sound effect event process according toone embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10 illustrates a graphical user interface according to oneembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention pertains to techniques for presenting sound effects at aportable media device. The sound effects can be output as audio soundsto an internal speaker, an external speaker, or both. In addition, theaudio sounds for the sound effects can be output together with otheraudio sounds pertaining to media assets (e.g., audio tracks beingplayed). In one embodiment, the sound effects can serve to provideauditory feedback to a user of the portable media device. A userinterface can facilitate a user's selection of sound effect usages,types or characteristics.

The invention is well suited for audio sounds pertaining to media assets(media items), such as musk, audiobooks, meeting recordings, and otherspeech or voice recordings.

The improved techniques are also resource efficient. Given the resourceefficiency of these techniques, the improved techniques are also wellsuited for use with portable electronic devices having audio playbackcapabilities, such as portable media devices. Portable media devices,such as media players, are small and highly portable and have limitedprocessing resources. Often, portable media devices are hand-held mediadevices, such as hand-held audio players, which can be easily held byand within a single hand of a user.

Embodiments of the invention are discussed below with reference to FIGS.1-10. However, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that thedetailed description given herein with respect to these figures is forexplanatory purposes as the invention extends beyond these limitedembodiments.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an audio system 100 according to oneembodiment of the invention. The audio system 100 depicts a data flowfor the audio system 100 under the control of an application 102.Typically, the audio system 100 is provided by a computing device.Often, the computing device is a portable computing device especiallydesigned for audio usage. One example of portable computing devices areportable media players (e.g., music players or MP3 players). Anotherexample of portable computing devices are mobile telephones (e.g., cellphones) or Personal Digital Assistants (PDA).

The application 102 is, for example, a software application thatoperates on the computing device. The application 102 has access toaudio data 104 and sound effect data 106. The application 102 canutilize the audio data 104 when the application 102 desires to outputthe audio data 104. The sound effect data 106 can represent audio soundspertaining to sound effects that can be utilized by the computingdevice. For example, the sound effects may correspond to sounds (actualor synthetic) for mouse clicks, button presses, and the like. The soundeffect data 106 is audio data and can be stored in a wide variety offormats. For example, the sound effect data 106 a can be simply PulseCoded Modulation (PCM) data or can be encoded data, such as MP3 orMPEG-4 format. PCM data is typically either raw data (e.g., a block ofsamples) or formatted (e.g., WAV or AIFF file formats).

The application 102 controls when a sound effect is to be output by theaudio system 100. The application 102 also understands that it may ormay not already be outputting audio data 104 at the time at which asound effect is to the output. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, theapplication 102 can control an audio device 108. The audio device 108 isa hardware component that is capable of producing a sound, such as asound effect. For example, the audio device 108 can pertain to an audiooutput device (e.g., speaker or piezoelectric device) that can bebriefly activated to provide a sound effect. The sound affect can serveto inform the user of the computing device of a condition, status orevent.

In addition, the application 102 produces an audio channel 110 and amixer channel 112. The audio channel 110 is a virtual channel over whichthe application 102 can send audio data 104 such that it can be directedto an audio output device. For example, the audio output device can be aspeaker that outputs the corresponding audio sounds. In addition, theapplication 102 can utilize a mixer channel 112 to output sound effectsto the audio output device. The mixer channel 112 and the audio channel110 can be mixed together downstream (see FIG. 3). Hence, the audiosystem 100 can not only output audio data 104 over the audio channel 110but can also output sound effects over the mixer channel 112. Asdiscussed in greater detail below, the audio data on the audio channel110 can be mix with any sound effect data on the mixer channel 112.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of an audio output process 200 according to oneembodiment of the invention. The audio output process 200 is performedby an audio system. For example, the audio output process 200 can beperformed by the application 102 of the audio system 100 illustrated inFIG. 1.

The audio output process 200 begins with a decision 202 that determineswhether an audio play request has been issued. For example, an audioplay request can be issued as a result of a system action or a useraction with respect to the audio system. When the decision 202determines that an audio play request has been issued, audio data isoutput 204 to an audio channel. By outputting the audio data to theaudio channel, the audio data is directed to an audio output device,namely, a speaker, wherein audible sound is output.

Following the operation 204, or following the decision 202 when an audioplay request has not been issued, a decision 206 determines whether asound effect request has been issued. When the decision 206 determinesthat a sound effect request has been issued, then sound effect data isoutput 208 to a mixer channel. The mixer channel carries other audiodata, such as audio data pertaining to sound effects (sound effectdata). The mixer channel allows the sound effect data to mix with theaudio data on the audio channel. After the sound effect data has beenoutput 208 to the mixer channel, or directly following the decision 206when a sound effect request has not been issued, the audio outputprocessed 200 turns to repeat the decision 202 and subsequent operationsso that subsequent requests can be similarly processed.

It should be understood that often audio data is output for a longerduration than is any sound effect data, which tends to be of a shorterduration. Hence, during the output of the audio data to the audiochannel, sound effect data for one or more sound effects can be outputto the mixer channel and this combined with the audio data.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an audio processing system 300 according toone embodiment of the invention. The audio processing system 300includes an audio channel 302 and a mixer channel 304. The audio channel302 typically includes a decoder and a buffer. The mixer channel 304typically includes resolution and/or sample rate converters.

The audio channel 302 receives audio data 306 that is to be output bythe audio processing system 300. After the audio data 306 passes throughthe audio channel 302, it is provided to a mixer 380. The mixer channel304 receives sound effect data 310. After the sound effect data 310 haspassed through the mixer channel 304, it is provided to a mixer 308. Themixer 308 serves to combine the audio data from the audio channel 302with the sound effect data 310 from the mixer channel 304. The combineddata is then supplied to a Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) 312. TheDAC 312 converts the combined data to an analog audio output. The analogaudio output can be supplied to an audio output device, such as aspeaker.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an audio mixing process 400 according to oneembodiment of the invention. The audio mixing process 400 it is, forexample, performed by the audio processing system 300 illustrated inFIG. 3.

The audio mixing process 400 begins with a decision 402 that determineswhether a sound effect is to be output. When the decision 402 determinesthat a sound effect is not to be output, then the audio mixing process400 awaits the need to output a sound effect. For example, the decision206 of the audio output process 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 indicates thatan audio system can make the determination of whether a sound effect isto be output. Accordingly, the audio mixing process 400 is invoked whena sound effect is to be output.

Once the decision 402 determines that a sound effect is to be output, adesired sound effect to be output is determined 404. Here, in oneembodiment, the audio system can support a plurality of different soundeffects. In such an embodiment, the audio system needs to determinewhich of the plurality of sound effects is the desired sound effect. Thesound effect data for the desired sound effect is then retrieved 406.

A decision 408 then determines whether audio data is also being output.When the decision 408 determines that audio data is also being output,audio characteristics for the audio data being output are obtained 410.In one implementation, the audio characteristics pertain to metadatacorresponding to the audio data being output. The sound effect data isthen modified 412 based on the audio characteristics. In one embodiment,the audio characteristics can pertain to one or more of: audioresolution (e.g., bit depth), sample rate, and stereo/mono. For example,the audio resolution for the sound effect data can be modified 412 tomatch the audio resolution (e.g., bit depth) of the audio data. Asanother example, the sample rate for the sound effect can be modified412 based on the sample rate of the audio data. In any case, after thesound effect data has been modified 412, the modified sound effect datais then mixed 414 with the audio data. Thereafter, the mixed audio datais output 416. As an example, the mixed audio data can be output 416 toan audio output device (e.g., speaker) associated with the audio system.

On the other hand, when the decision 408 determines that audio data isnot being output, sound effect data is output 418. Here, since there isno audio data being output, the sound elect data can be simply output418. If desired, the sound effect data can be modified before beingoutput 418, such as to change audio resolution or sample rateconversion. Here, the output 418 of the sound effect data can also beprovided to the audio output device. Following the operations 416 and418, the audio mixing process 400 is complete and ends

FIG. 5 is an audio processing system 500 according to one embodiment ofthe invention. The audio processing system 500 includes an audio channel502. The audio channel 502 includes a decoder 504 and a buffer 506. Thedecoder 504 receives incoming audio data. The decoder 504 decodes theaudio data (which was previously encoded). The decoded audio data isthen temporarily stored in the buffer 506. As needed for transmission,the decoded audio data is supplied from the buffer 506 to a mixer 508.

The audio processing system 500 also includes a mixer channel 510. Themixer channel 510 receives sound effect data that is to be output. Sincethe audio processing system 500 can process audio data of various bitdepths, sample rates, and other criteria, the mixer channel 510 canserve to modify the sound effect data. One benefit of providing themixer channel 510 with conversion or adaptation capabilities is theability to modify in the audio characteristics of the sound effect data.By doing so, the sound effect data does not have to be stored by theaudio system for a large number of different audio formats. Indeed, forefficient use of storage resources, only a single file for each soundeffect need be stored. As needed, sound effect data can have its audiocharacteristics altered so as to closely match those of the audio dataalso being output by the audio processing system 500. In this regard,the mixer channel 510 can include a bit depth converter 512, a channelcount adapter 514, and a sample rate converter 516. The bit depthconverter 512 can convert the bit depth (i.e., resolution) of the soundeffect data. As one example, if the sound effect data has a bit depth ofeight (8) bits, the bit depth converter 512 could change the bit depthto sixteen (16) bits. The channel count adapter 514 can modify the soundeffect data to provide mono or stereo audio components. The sample rateconverter 516 converts the sample rate for the sound effect data. Toassist the mixer channel 510 in converting or adapting the audiocharacteristics, the audio characteristics from the audio data providedto the audio channel 502 can be provided to the mixer channel 510, so asto inform the mixer channel 510 of the audio characteristics of theaudio data in the audio channel 502.

The modified sound effect data output by the mixer channel 510 issupplied to the mixer 508. The mixer 508 adds or sums the decoded audiodata from the audio channel 502 with the modified sound effect data fromthe mixer channel 510. The results of the mixer 508 is mixed audio datathat is supplied to a buffer 518. The mixed audio data is digital datastored in the buffer 518. The audio processing, system 500 also includesa Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) 520. The DAC 520 receives the mixedaudio data from the buffer 518, which is digital data, and converts itinto an analog audio output. The analog audio output can be supplied toan audio output device, such as a speaker.

Although the audio processing system 500 illustrated in FIG. 5 depicts asingle audio channel and a single mixer channel, it should be understoodthat the audio processing system 500 can include more than one mixerchannel. The advantage of having more than one mixer channel is thatmultiple sound effects can be output concurrently, thereby providing apolyphony audio effect.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a multi-channel audio mixing system 600according to one embodiment of the invention. The multi-channel audiomixing system 600 includes an audio channel 602 that receives audio dataand outputs decoded audio data. The decoded audio data being output bythe audio channel 602 is supplied to a mixer 604. The multi-channelaudio mixing system 600 also includes a plurality of mixer channel's606-1, 606-2, . . . , 606-N. Each of the mixer channels 606 is capableof receiving a different sound effect. For example, the mixer channel 1606-1 can receive a sound effect A, the mixer channel 2 606-2 canreceive a sound effect B, and the mixer channel N can receive a soundeffect N. If desired, the mixer channels 606 can each carry a soundeffect at same time, or at least with partial temporal overlap, so thatthe various sound effects can be output without substantial distortionamongst one another. Regardless of the number of sound effects beingprocessed by the mixer channels 606, the sound effect data output fromthe mixer channels 606 are provided to the mixer 604. The mixer 604combines the sound effect data from one or more of the mixer channels606 with the decoded audio data from the audio channel 602. The resultof the mixer 604 is a mixed audio output that can be supplied to inaudio output device.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a media player 700 according to oneembodiment of the invention. The media player 700 can implement theaudio system 100 of FIG. 1 or the audio processing system 200, 500 ofFIGS. 3 and 5 The media player 700 includes a processor 702 thatpertains to a microprocessor or controller for controlling the overalloperation of the media player 700. The media player 700 stores mediadata pertaining to media items in a file system 704 and a cache 706. Thefile system 704 is, typically, a storage disk or a plurality of disks.The file system 704 typically provides high capacity storage capabilityfor the media player 700. The file system 704 can store not only mediadata but also non-media data (e.g., when operated in a disk mode).However, since the access time to the file system 704 is relativelyslow, the media player 700 can also include a cache 706. The cache 706is, for example, Random-Access Memory (RAM) provided by semiconductormemory. The relative access time to the cache 706 is substantiallyshorter than for the file system 704. However, the cache 706 does nothave the large storage capacity of the file system 704. Further, thefile system 704, when active, consumes more power than does the cache706. The power consumption is often a concern when the media player 700is a portable media player that is powered by a battery (not shown). Themedia player 700 also includes a RAM 722 and a Read-Only Memory (ROM)722. The ROM 720 can store programs, utilities or processes to beexecuted in a non-volatile manner. The RAM 722 provides volatile datastorage, such as for the cache 706.

The media player 700 also includes a user input device 708 that allows auser of the media player 700 to interact with the media player 700. Forexample, the user input device 708 can take a variety of forms, such asa button, keypad, dial, etc. In one implementation, the user inputdevice 708 can be provided by a dial that physically rotates. In anotherimplementation, the user input device 70$ can be implemented as atouchpad (i.e., a touch-sensitive surface), in still anotherimplementation, the user input device 708 can be implemented as acombination one or more physical buttons and well as a touchpad.Regardless of how implemented, as the user interacts with the userinterface device 708, a piezoelectric device 724 can provide auditoryfeedback to the user. For example, the piezoelectric device 724 can becontrolled by the processor 702 to emit a sound in response to a useraction (e.g., user selection or button press). Still further, the mediaplayer 700 includes a display 710 (screen display) that can becontrolled by the processor 702 to display information to the user. Adata bus 711 can facilitate data transfer between at least the filesystem 704, the cache 706, the processor 702, and the CODEC 712.

In one embodiment, the media player 700 serves to store a plurality ofmedia items (e.g., songs) in the file system 704. When a user desires tohave the media player play a particular media item, a list of availablemedia items is displayed on the display 710. Then, using the user inputdevice 708, a user can select one of the available media items. Theprocessor 702, upon receiving a selection of a particular media item,supplies the media data (e.g., audio file) for the particular media itemto a coder/decoder (CODEC) 712. The CODEC 712 then produces analogoutput signals for a speaker 714. The speaker 714 can be a speakerinternal to the media player 700 or external to the media player 700.For example, headphones or earphones that connect to the media player700 would be considered an external speaker. The speaker 714 can notonly be used to output audio sounds pertaining to the media item beingplayed, but also to output sound effects. The sound effects can bestored as audio data on the media player 700, such as in file system704, the cache 706, the ROM 720 or the RAM 722. A sound effect can beoutput in response to a user input or a system request. When aparticular sound effect is to be output to the speaker 714, theassociated sound effect audio data can be retrieved by the processor 702and supplied to the CODEC 712 which then supplies audio signals to thespeaker 714. In the case where audio data for a media item is also beingoutput, the processor 702 can process the audio data for the media itemas well as the sound effect. In such case, the audio data for the soundeffect can be mixed with the audio data for the media item. The mixedaudio data can then be supplied to the CODEC 712 which supplies audiosignals (pertaining to both the media item and the sound effect) to thespeaker 714.

The media player 700 also includes a network/bus interface 716 thatcouples to a data link 718. The data link 718 allows the media player700 to couple to a host computer. The data link 718 can be provided overa wired connection or a wireless connection. In the case of a wirelessconnection, the network/bus interface 716 can include a wirelesstransceiver.

In one embodiment, the media player 700 is a portable computing devicededicated to processing media such as audio. For example, the mediaplayer 700 can be a music player (e.g., MP3 player), a game player, andthe like. These devices are generally battery operated and highlyportable so as to allow a user to listen to music, play games or video,record video or take pictures wherever the user travels. In oneimplementation, the media player 700 is a handheld device that is sizedfor placement into a pocket or hand of the user. By being handheld, themedia player 700 is relatively small and easily handled and utilized byits user. By being pocket sized, the user does not have to directlycarry the device and therefore the device can be taken almost anywherethe user travels (e.g., the user is not limited by carrying a large,bulky and often heavy device, as in a portable computer). Furthermore,the device may be operated by the user's hands, no reference surfacesuch as a desktop is needed.

The user input device 708 can take a variety of forms, such as a button,keypad, dial, etc. (physical or soft implementations) each of which canbe programmed to individually or in combination to perform any of asuite of functions. FIG. 8 illustrates a media player 800 having aparticular user input device 802 according to one embodiment. The mediaplayer 804 can also include a display 804. The user input device 802includes a number of input devices 806, which can be either physical orsoft devices. Such input devices 806 can take the form of a rotatabledial 806-1, such as in the form of a wheel, capable of rotation ineither a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. A depressible inputbutton 806-2 can be provided at the center of the dial 806-1 andarranged to receive a user input event such as a press event. Otherinput buttons 806 include input buttons 806-3 through 806-6 eachavailable to receive user supplied input action.

As noted above, the audio system can be utilized to mix sound effectswith player data such that the mixed audio can be output to an audiooutput device. The audio system can be system or user configurable as tosound effect processing. For example, a user may desire sound effects tobe output to a particular audio output device of the audio system. Asone example, the audio output device can be an in-device speaker. Asanother example, a user may desire sound effects to be output to aheadphone (earphone) instead of or in addition to any in-device speaker.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of a sound effect event process 900 accordingto one embodiment of the invention. The sound effect event process 900begins with a decision 902 that determines whether a sound effect eventhas been initiated. An audio system, or its user can initiate a soundeffect event. When the decision 902 determines that a sound effect eventhas not been issued, then the sound effect event process 900 awaits suchan event. On the other hand, once the decision 900 determines that asound effect event has been issued, a decision 904 determines whether adevice effect is enabled. When the decision 904 determines that thedevice effect is enabled, then a device effect is activated 906. Thefile device effect corresponds to an audio output device which can beactivated to physically produce the sound effect. For example, thedevice effect can be produced by an in-device speaker. One type ofspeaker is a loudspeaker. Another type of speaker is a piezoelectricspeaker (e.g., piezoelectric device 724).

A user or system can configure the audio system to provide a given soundeffect, the device effect, via an audio output device. For example, ifthe audio output device is a piezoelectric speaker, the system cancontrol the audio output device to provide the device effect thatcorresponds to the sound effect event that has been issued. For example,if the sound effect event issued was a “mouse click” event, then thedevice effect could be a click sound that is physically generated by anelectrical control signal supplied to the piezoelectric speaker.

On the other hand, when the decision 904 determines that the deviceeffect is not enabled, or following the activation 906 if the deviceeffect was enabled, a decision 908 determines whether an earphone effectis enabled. Here, the system or user can configure the audio system toprovide a sound effect to the user via one or more earphones coupled tothe audio system. When the decision 908 determines that the earphoneeffect is enabled, then an earphone effect is activated 910. Byactivation 910 of the earphone effect, the appropriate sound effect isoutput to the user by way of the one or more earphones. As a result,should the user be wearing be earphones, the sound effect is able to beperceived in an audio manner by the user. Following the operation 910,or following the decision 908 when the earphone effect is not enabled,the sound effect event process 900 returns to repeat the decision 902and subsequent operations so that additional sound effect events can beprocessed.

In one embodiment, the audio system makes use of a graphical userinterface to assist the user with configuring audible sound effects. Forexample, the user may desire to have little or no sound effects active.On the other hand, when sound effects are these partial the active, theuser may desire the sound effects be provided at an in-device speaker ofthe audio system. Alternatively, or in addition, the user may alsodesire sound effects to be provided in an audio manner via an earphoneor headphone.

FIG. 10 illustrates a graphical user interface 1000 according to oneembodiment of the invention. The graphical user interface 1000 allows auser to configure a portable computing device for auditory feedback.More particularly, the graphical user interface 1000 includes a headeror title 1002 designating that the graphical user interface pertains to“Feedback”. The graphical user interface 1000 also displays a menu orlist 1004 of user selectable items. In this example, the menu or list1004 includes four user selectable items, namely, “Speaker”,“Headphone”, “Both” and “Off”. The “Speaker” selection causes theconfiguration to provide auditory feedback via a speaker (e.g.,piezoelectric device 724). The “Headphone” selection causes theconfiguration to provide auditory feedback via earphone(s) orheadphone(s) (e.g., external speaker 714 (external)). The “Both”selection causes the configuration to provide auditory feedback via aspeaker (e.g., piezoelectric device 724) and as earphone(s) orheadphone(s) (e.g., external speaker 714 (external)). The “Off”selection causes the configuration to provide no auditory feedback. Aselector 1006 indicates current selection of the “Headphone” item.

One example of a media player is the iPod® media player, which isavailable from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif. Often, a mediaplayer acquires its media assets from a host computer that serves toenable a user to manage media assets. As an example, the host computercan execute a media management application to utilize and manage mediaassets. One example of a media management application is iTunes®,produced by Apple Computer, Inc.

The various aspects, embodiments, implementations or features of theinvention can be used separately or in any combination.

The invention is preferably implemented by software, hardware or acombination of hardware and software. The invention can also be embodiedas computer readable code on a computer readable medium. The computerreadable medium is any data storage device that can store data which canthereafter be read by a computer system. Examples of the computerreadable medium include read-only memory, random-access memory, CD-ROMs,DVDs, magnetic tape, optical data storage devices, and carrier waves.The computer readable medium can also be distributed overnetwork-coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code isstored and executed in a distributed fashion.

The advantages of the invention are numerous. Different aspects,embodiments or implementations may yield one or more of the followingadvantages. One advantage of the invention is that processing resourcesrequired to implement audio sound effects can be substantially reduced.A media device that is highly portable can make use of audio soundeffects. Another advantage of the invention is that sound effects can beoutput even while a media device is outputting other media music).Another advantage of the invention is that the audio data for soundeffects can be stored in a single formats and converted to other formatsas appropriate to substantially match audio data of a media item beingplayed. Still another advantage of the invention is that multiple soundeffects can be output concurrently with substantial preservation oftheir intelligibility.

The many features and advantages of the present invention are apparentfrom the written description and, thus, it is intended by the appendedclaims to cover all such features and advantages of the invention.Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur tothose skilled in the art, the invention should not be limited to theexact construction and operation as illustrated and described. Hence,all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to as fallingwithin the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for a computing device comprising:determining a desired sound effect to output for the computing device ifa sound effect event is detected; retrieving sound effect data for thedesired sound effect; determining if audio data is to be output for thecomputing device with the desired sound effect; obtainingcharacteristics of the audio data if determined to be output; modifyingthe sound effect data based on the obtained characteristics of the audiodata prior to mixing with the audio data such that the sound effect datahave similar characteristics as the audio data; mixing the modifiedsound effect data and the audio data, wherein the audio data has alonger audio playback duration than the modified sound effect data andthe modified sound effect data serves to inform a user of the computingdevice of a condition being triggered by the computing device; andinforming the user of the triggered condition by outputting the mixedmodified sound effect data and audio data.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising outputting the mixed modified sound effect data andaudio data to an audio output device.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinif audio data is not determined to be output for the computing device,the sound effect data for the desired sound effect is output for thecomputing device without any audio data.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the characteristics of the audio data include meta data.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, wherein modifying the sound effect data includesmodifying the sound effect data based on audio resolution, sample rate,or stereo characteristics of the audio data.
 6. The method of claim 1,wherein the condition is triggered in response to a system action or auser action.
 7. A portable computing device comprising: a memory storingaudio data and sound effect data; and a processor running an applicationto determine a desired sound effect to output for the portable computingdevice if a sound effect event is detected, retrieve sound effect datafor the desired sound effect, determine if audio data is to be outputfor the portable computing device with the desired sound effect; obtaincharacteristics of the audio data if determined to be output, modify thesound effect data based on the obtained characteristics of the audiodata prior to mixing with the audio data such that the sound effect datahave similar characteristics as the audio data, mix the modified soundeffect data and the audio data, wherein the audio data has a longeraudio playback duration than the modified sound effect data and themodified sound effect data serves to inform a user of the computingdevice of a condition being triggered by the computing device, andinform the user of the triggered condition by outputting the mixedmodified sound effect data and audio data.
 8. The portable computingdevice of claim 7, further comprising an audio output device to outputthe sound effect data for the desired sound effect without audio data.9. The portable computing device of claim 8, wherein the audio device isto output the mixed modified sound effect data and audio data.
 10. Theportable computing device of claim 8, wherein the application producesan audio channel and a mixer channel.
 11. The portable computing deviceof claim 10, wherein the application is to send audio data on the audiochannel to the audio output device and mixed modified sound effect dataand audio data on the mixer channel to the audio output device.
 12. Theportable computing device of claim 7, wherein the characteristics of theaudio data include resolution, sample rate, or stereo characteristics.13. A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising instructions,which executed by a computing device, cause the computing device toperform a method comprising: determining a desired sound effect tooutput for the computing device if a sound effect event is detected;retrieving sound effect data for the desired sound effect; determiningif audio data is to be output for the computing device with the desiredsound effect; obtaining characteristics of the audio data if determinedto be output; modifying the sound effect data based on the obtainedcharacteristics of the audio data prior to mixing with the audio datasuch that the sound effect data have similar characteristics as theaudio data; mixing the modified sound effect data and the audio data,wherein the audio data has a longer audio playback duration than themodified sound effect data and the modified sound effect data serves toinform a user of the computing device of a condition being triggered bythe computing device; and informing the user of the triggered conditionby outputting the mixed modified sound effect data and audio data. 14.The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, comprisinginstructions, which executed by the computing device, cause thecomputing device to perform a method comprising outputting sound effectdata for the desired sound effect without any audio data if audio datais not determined to be output for the computing device.
 15. Thenon-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 14, comprisinginstructions, which executed by the computing device, cause thecomputing device to perform a method comprising outputting the mixedmodified sound effect data and audio data to the audio output device.16. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 14, comprisinginstructions, which executed by the computing device, cause thecomputing device to perform a method comprising modifying the soundeffect data based on audio resolution, sample rate, or stereocharacteristics of the audio data.
 17. A computing device comprising:means for determining a desired sound effect to output for the computingdevice if a sound effect event is detected; means for retrieving soundeffect data for the desired sound effect; means for determining if audiodata is to be output for the computing device with the desired soundeffect; means for obtaining characteristics of the audio data ifdetermined to be output; means for modifying the sound effect data basedon the obtained characteristics of the audio data prior to mixing withthe audio data such that the sound effect data have similarcharacteristics as the audio data; means for mixing the modified soundeffect data and the audio data, wherein the audio data has a longeraudio playback duration than the modified sound effect data and themodified sound effect data serves to inform a user of the computingdevice of a condition being triggered by the computing device; and meansfor outputting the mixed modified sound effect data and audio data toinform the user of the triggered condition.
 18. The computing device ofclaim 17, further comprising means for outputting the sound effect datafor the desired sound effect without any audio data if audio data is notdetermined to be output for the computing device.
 19. The computingdevice of claim 17, wherein the characteristics of the audio datainclude meta data.
 20. The computing device of claim 17, furthercomprising means for modifying the sound effect data based on audioresolution, sample rate, or stereo characteristics of the audio data.